Lady Panthers beat NLR, struggle in tourney

Hannah Montgomery connnects on one of her three home runs against North Little Rock last week. (Photo by Mark Buffalo)

By Chad Matchett

Correspondent

Cabot softball had an up and down week after beating North Little Rock at Lady Panther Field, then dropping three games in the Fayetteville-Farmington Tournament.

The Lady Panthers put together an amazing day at the plate while beating the Lady Charging Wildcats. Cabot crushed five home runs while defeating the defending state champions 9-7.

Freshman Hannah Montgomery had a career day, smashing three home runs in the first three innings, when Cabot scored all of their runs.

Montgomery got the scoring started for Cabot in the first inning with a solo homer. Heather Hill walked, then watched Kaitlyn Felder take one over the fence as well to give the Lady Panthers a 3-0 lead.

Cabot got right back to work with the bats in the second inning, with Lane Justus leading off with a single. Montgomery smashed her second homer, giving Cabot a 5-0 lead. Hill walked again, then after the second out, Molly Wood stepped in and hit the first home run of her career, a two-run shot that put Cabot in command 7-0.

North Little Rock got on the board in the top of the third with an inside-the-park homer, but Cabot wasn’t done scoring in the bottom of the inning.

Rachel Allgood reached on an error, then scored when Montgomery hit her third home run in as many innings.

North Little Rock changed pitchers and messed up the timing on the Cabot bats from that point, as the Lady Panthers were held scoreless. Cabot had to hold off a furious charge by the Wildcats, who scored five runs in the seventh inning to make the final close.

Montgomery was 3 for 4 with three homers, three runs and five RBIs in the game. Wood was 2 for 3 with a homer and two RBIs, Felder was 2 for 4 with a homer and two RBIs, while Hill was 1 for 2 with two walks and scored two runs.

Playing Fort Smith Northside in Fayetteville, Cabot fell 8-7 after a rough first inning put them in a hole.

Northside scored six runs in the first inning, thanks in part to a hit batter and three errors.

Erin Eckert scored for Cabot in the first inning with a single, then coming around on an error.

The third inning saw Felder and Justus each walk and score on a triple by Macee Abbott. Abbott scored on a single from Allgood.

Cabot finished off their scoring in the fifth inning with Eckert doubling and Abbott singling, then scroing when Allgood reached on an error. Allgood came around to score on a double by Parker Steadman.

North side added runs in the fourth and sixth innings.

Cabot’s offense cooled off in the next two tournament games, a 3-1 loss to Pea Ridge and a 7-0 loss to Rogers. The Lady Panthers were without their hottest bat in Montgomery for the tournament.

Services

Solutions

Social

The Cabot Star Herald, Lonoke Democrat, and Carlisle Independent websites are available only to print and digital subscribers. If you are already a subscriber, you can access these websites at no additional charge.